I have always cultivated hobbies.
At different stages of my life, I have read compulsively, played video games, written software, assembled computers, studied languages, explored obscure subjects, and devoted countless hours to activities that many people would have considered pointless.
I have never been under the illusion that everyone would understand these passions.
In fact, I know that faint smile very well: the one that appears when someone thinks, “Is he not a bit too old for that sort of thing?”
Or when the suspicion of the so-called “Peter Pan syndrome” emerges, as though simply enjoying oneself were somehow incompatible with being an adult.
Then I came across a proverb that is as brutal as it is democratic:
“To each fool his fancy.”
And I must admit that it reconciled me with the world.
Its strength lies precisely in its universality.
It does not distinguish between noble hobbies and trivial ones.
It does not create rankings.
It does not declare one passion more worthy than another.
The person who spends weekends restoring vintage cars looks with bewilderment at someone who spends hours playing a video game.
The football enthusiast cannot understand the stamp collector.
The stamp collector cannot understand the person who spends evenings binge watching television series.
The television enthusiast cannot understand the person who studies the history of the Roman Empire.
And so it goes, in an endless chain of mutual incomprehension.
The truth is that almost all of us invest time, money and energy in something that, when viewed from the outside, may appear perfectly absurd.
The only difference is that each of us considers our own passion reasonable and everyone else’s rather eccentric.
Over the years, I have learned that a hobby does not necessarily have to produce profit, prestige or practical value.
It merely has to bring us enjoyment, curiosity, peace of mind or companionship.
If someone secretly mocks the way I spend my free time, I find myself caring less and less.
Because I am almost certain that, if I were to examine their hobbies closely enough, I would find at least one that seemed just as incomprehensible to me.
And that is precisely the beauty of it.
In a world that constantly demands that we be productive, efficient and rational, everyone retains the right to devote part of their life to something that others may regard as foolish.
After all, the proverb does not suggest that there are wise people on one side and fools on the other.
It says that we all belong to the same club.
We simply have different passions.